Saturating kettle



y 1936' J. F. DILLON 2,040,514

SATURATING KETTLE Filed Aug. 26, 1933 iNvENTOR Joseph Efl/Y/on ATTORNEY Patented May 12, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE V SATURATING KETTLE.

Joseph Francis Dillon, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to The Barrett Company, New York, N. Y., a

corporation of New Jersey Application August 26, 1933, Serial No. 686,950

4 Claims. (01- 91-46) m This invention relates to saturators and more particularly to saturating kettles for impregnating absorbent fibrous sheet materials, such as. roofing felt, with liquid saturant such'as asphalt,

sorbent sheet material with hot saturant in which weaving of the sheet during its passage through the apparatus is effectively-prevented.

Another object of this invention is to provide a kettle for saturating sheet roofing with hot bituminous material in which special kettle rolls are provided. These rolls are designed to re-' move foam and excess saturant from the surface of the sheet, thereby preventing lateral floating or slippage of the sheet during its passage over the rolls. Other objects and advantages will appear from the following detailed description of my invention.

It is common practice at the present time to saturate absorbent fibrous sheet material, such as sheet roofing felt, by passing the sheet material several times in and out of a bath of'hot saturant contained in a suitable tank or kettle.

This is done by looping the sheet. over a plurality of kettle rolls or guide roll's disposed above and below the surface of the saturant in the tank.

, Contact of the hot saturant with the sheet, however, causesmoisture, which is generally present in the sheet, to" vaporize and form steam. The steam and other gases present in the sheet which have been driven out bythe hot saturant, combine. with .the saturant to produce a foam or froth on the surface of the sheet and on the surface of the kettle rolls. This foam fo an anti-friction film on the surface of the kettl roll and sheet which prevents actual contact of the sheet with portions of the kettle rolls, especially 46 the kettle rolls above the surface of the saturant in the tank. Hence, as the sheet passes through the saturator it frequently floats laterally or side slips during its passage over the kettle rolls. Slipping or weaving of the sheet causes an un- 60 even tension on one side of the sheet and often results in ruptures or breaks during passage of 1 the sheet through the kettle.

In the copending application of J. Pearl, Serial No. 686,947, filed on even date herewith there is disclosed saturating equipment designed to remove the film of foam and excess saturant from the surfaceof the sheet and give improved traction between the sheet and the kettle rolls. My

invention is an improvement on the apparatus invention of this application. In accordance with my invention, the saturating kettle is provided with rolls having a series of raised and depressed areas thereon, the raised areas being arranged to" contact with the sheet, and the depressed portions permitting foam and excess 10 saturant to drain thereinto and thus be removed from the sheet and-the raised portions of the roll contacting with the sheet. The rolls may be cast integrally or built up in the shape of fluted or corrugated rolls. If desired, such a 15 roll may be made from the customary smoothsurfaced cylindrical roll merely by fixing a plurality of angle irons longitudinally along its-periphery. I have found that such rolls are ideal for guiding the sheet through the saturating tank 20 since the comparatively deep grooves or depressed portions of the flutes permit the escape of excess saturantand foam from the surface of the sheet, while the raised portions serve to support the sheet and give improved traction between 25 the sheet and the roll.

, For a better understanding of the invention reference should be made to the accompanying drawing wherein is shown, by way of illustration,

9. preferred embodiment of this invention, and in 30 which: a 1 Fig.1 is a side elevation of a saturating apparatus embodying this'invention, the saturating tank being shown in section.

Fig. 2 is an enlargedview partly in section, 35

showing a' kettle roll constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along vthe line Y ing over a guide roll 4 into a saturating kettle indicated generally by the reference numeral 6. This kettle may comprise the usual rectangular tank 8 made of sheet steel or other suitable material and adapted tohold cementitious waterproofing compositiomsuchas heated asphalt or other fluid bituminous material, utilized for the impregnation and saturation of roofing? felts. 5

In a manner well known in the art, thesaturating tank} is provided with a series, of lower kettle rolls or guide rolls Ill-l0 and a set of upper kettle rolls or guide rolls l2--I 2. Rolls III, of which there may be any desired number, are arranged in a freely rotatable shafts I! mounted in suitable bearings. These rolls are preferably a considerable distance above the surface I4 of the saturant in the tank. The upper kettle rolls' l 2 in accordance with my invention, as hereinafter pointed out, are designed and constructed to prevent weaving or slipping of the sheet passing thereover.

Numerals l8 and I9 denote a pair of squeeze rolls which may be driven at any desirable speed bya suitable drive, (not shown) These rolls draw the fibrous sheet 2 from the source of supply through the saturating tank, and squeeze excess saturant from the sheet as it passes between them.

Although four upper kettle rolls l2 are shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, onlyone will be described in details since all the rolls l2 shown on the drawv ing are of like construction.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, each roll l2 comprises a hollow cylindrical shaped shell 22 provided' around its periphery with a plurality of parallel flutes '24 extending longitudinally of the shell. These flutes may be constructed by welding, riveting, or otherwise securing a series of angle irons 26 of any suitable size to the peripheral surface of the shell. I have found that "x /2 angle irons, of a length equal to that of the shell, are a desirable size and may advantageously be used by welding to the shell so that the legs ,extend radially therefrom. As shown inFig. 3, one leg of each angle iron is welded to the shell so that a small clearance is provided between it and the radially .extending leg of a contiguous iron. Thus, relatively closely spaced raised portions are provided about the circumferential surface of the shell 22," each raised portion extending across the length of the shell. The hollow shell 22 may be fixed to the shaft l1, passing axially therethrough, by means of disc shaped supports 28 fitted into the ends of the shelland suitably secured to the interior of the shell and the shaft I1. 1

The operation of the apparatus is as follows:

A sheet 'of absorbent fibrous material, which maybe the usual roofing felt made of rag fiber,

paper stock, or other fibrous material, with or without suitable fillers, as well known in the art, is led from the usual paper making machine or other source of supply over feed roll 4 into the saturating kettle li containing a bath ,of molten hot asphalt or other saturant, which is maintained in a molten condition by suitable heating means such as a steam coil associated with the kettle 6. As soon as the absorbent sheet is immersed in the saturating bath, the hot saturant begins to enter the pores of the sheet. I

Moisture contained in the sheet is vaporized, the

steam thus formed being expelled from the sheet,

and, together with the air leaving the sheet, causing the formation of foam in the bath and on the surface of the sheet.

After passing under the first lower kettle roll ID, the partly impregnated sheet is led out of the bath and looped over the first upper kettle roll, I 2. As

1 thesheet contacts with upper roll 12, the foam,

steam, oily vapors, and excess saturant adhering to the sheet, leave the sheet and pass into the deep flutes or depressed portions of the roll. The steam and oily vapors escape therefrom to the atmosphere while the liquid portions of the foam and excess saturant drain from the ends of the roll back into the saturating kettle.

The removal of these film forming materials from the surface of the sheet permits intimate contact between the sheet and the roll thereby preventing slippage between the two which has heretofore resulted in weaving and often rupture of the sheet. Furthermore, the flexible sheet, wet with liquid saturant, tends to cling to the-raised portions of the roll, i. e., the tops of the flutes, so that satisfactory traction is obtained between the sheet and the roll.

After passing over the first upper roll .I 2 in the series, the partly impregnated sheet is led back into ,the bath and passed alternately under eachof the remainder of lower kettle roll l0 and over each of the upper kettle rolls l2 in a series of loops. In this way the sheet is alternately immersed in the hot saturant and exposed to the atmosphere until the impregnation is complete. The completely saturated sheet is withdrawn from the saturating tank and passed through squeeze rolls I8 and I9. These rolls, which may be driven at any desirable speed, not only pull the sheet from the source of supply over the kettle rolls in the saturating tank, but also press excess saturant from the saturated sheet and allow it to drain back into the saturating tank.

After passing through the squeeze rolls the sat- A urated sheet may be sentthrough a looping device (not shown) to allow the saturant to 'cool and to a sheet roofing in a manner well known in the roof- It will be noted that the saturating kettle and kettle rolls of thisinvention are simple in design and construction. The improved kettle rolls destroy the cushioning effect of foam and excess saturant on the sheet being satursted'and provide improved traction or contact between the sheet and the rolls. As has been pointed out, a considerable economy is effected by this invention since the operation requires less labor and supervision than has heretofore been necessary and eliminates delays for repairs or adjustments.

Furthermore, loss of material through breakage or rupture of the sheet is minimized if not entirely eliminated.

' Although, as described above, all of the upper kettle rolls are preferably constructed ifrraccordance with this invention, it should be understood that only one or more of the rolls-maybe so constructed.

Similarly, the fluted'or corrugated rolls of this invention maybe employed advantageously in positioned above the surface of the saturant, the

sheet passing successively under a roll of said series and over said kettle'roll and again under a roll of said series whereby it is repeatedly immersed in and withdrawn from said saturant, said kettle roll being provided witlra series of raised portions spaced therearound to drain excess saturant and foam from the sheet between immersions thereof.

2. In apparatus for saturating absorbent sheet material with fluid bituminous material, the combination comprising a tankfor holding the bituminous material, a series of rotatable rolls positioned below the surface of the bituminous material in'the tank, a second series of rolls positioned above the surface of the bituminous material, the sheet passing alternately under the rolls of said first series and over the rolls of said second series whereby it is repeatedly immersed in and withdrawn from said bituminous material, the. rolls of said second series having a plurality of angle irons attached thereto and extending generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rolls, said angle irons forming drains for draining excess saturant and foam from said sheet between immersions.

3. In apparatus for saturating sheet roofing felt with hot fluid bituminous material comprising a tank for holding the bituminous material, a series of rotatable cylindrical rolls positioned below the surface of the bituminous material in the tank, a second series of rotatable cylindrical rolls positioned above the surface of the bituminous material, the felt sheet during the saturating operation passing alternately under the ing therebetween drains for draining excess bituminous material and foam from said sheet between successive immersions of the same.

4. In apparatus for saturating absorbent sheet material, the combination comprising a tank containing liquid saturant, means within the tank below the surface of the saturating material for guiding the sheet material therethrough and a roll provided with spaced raised portions on the surface thereof, said roll being positioned so that sheet material to be saturated passes first over said roll and then into said saturant and under the guiding means positioned below the surface of the saturant, said roll preventing weaving and sideslipping of the sheet material as it passes into and through the saturant.

J OSEPH FRANCIS DILLON. 

